A County Durham train station has announced that its ticket office will remain open, despite dozens of others in the region facing the chop. 

It was revealed on Wednesday (September 6) that Bishop Auckland would keep its ticket office at a time when others like Darlington, Durham and Sunderland are listed for closure. 

Bishop Auckland is one of only a handful of stations around the UK where the ticket office is operated by an independent operator, and as staff are not directly employed by train companies the proposed changes do not apply.

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It was announced in July that LNER plans to close offices at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Darlington, Durham, Grantham, Newark Northgate, Retford and Wakefield Westgate.

It said just one per cent of passengers purchasing tickets at Durham and seven per cent at Darlington did so at the station’s ticket office.

Northern also announced the closure of ticket offices at 131 stations it manages. A ticket office being built as part of redevelopment works at Sunderland station may never open to customers.

The Northern Echo: Bishop Auckland is one of only a handful of stations around the UK where the ticket office is operated by an independent operatorBishop Auckland is one of only a handful of stations around the UK where the ticket office is operated by an independent operator (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

It means Newcastle, Hartlepool, and now Bishop Auckland, will be the only stations in the region with a ticket office if the plans go ahead.

David Million, CEO of Bishop Trains, said: “We are very pleased, and relieved, to have received confirmation that Bishop Trains will be unaffected by any of the changes that are being proposed, so it’s business as usual at Bishop Auckland station”.

Here are all of the train stations set to lose ticket offices:

  • Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland (LNER)
  • Darlington, Tees Valley (LNER)
  • Durham, County Durham (LNER)
  • Hexham, Northumberland (Northern)
  • Malton, North Yorkshire (Transpennine Express)
  • Middlesbrough, Tees Valley (Transpennine Express)
  • Morpeth, Northumberland (Northern)
  • Redcar Central, Tees Valley (Northern)
  • Scarborough, North Yorkshire (Transpennine Express)
  • Selby, North Yorkshire (Transpennine Express)
  • Sunderland, Tyne and Wear (Northern)
  • Thirsk, North Yorkshire (Transpennine Express)
  • Thornaby, Tees Valley (Transpennine Express)